2023/24 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ENGL32167 Language of the Media

20 creditsClass Size: 38

School of English

Module manager: Dr Fiona Douglas
Email: F.M.Douglas@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2023/24

Pre-requisite qualifications

Students wishing to take this module must have passed an introduction to language study in the School of English or another department (such modules include 'English Structure and Style', 'Analysing English', 'English: Context, Culture & Style', a Level 1 module in Linguistics and Phonetics, or similar modules in other departments in Modern Languages).

Please note that this module is restricted to Level 2 & 3.

Module replaces

ENGL3393

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module will enable you to analyse and evaluate the language of the media in its many guises. It will consider the ways in which language is used by key media outlets such as the press, advertising, TV and radio broadcasts, and also in specific types of media text such as the news report, the interview or talk show; the feature article, the news story or the editorial.We will look at a range of salient issues such as the role of the media as an authority in society and the consensual relationship that exists between the media and its target audience.The module will have a strong emphasis on the linguistic analysis of real media texts.

Objectives

This module will enable you to analyse and evaluate the language of the media in its many guises. It will consider the ways in which language is used by key media outlets such as the press, advertising, TV and radio broadcasts, and also in specific types of media text such as the news report, the interview or talk show; the feature article, the news story or the editorial; advertisements aimed at men vs. women etc.

Also under examination will be the increasingly interactive new technologies media such as the internet. We will look at a range of salient issues such as the role of the media as an authority in society, the consensual relationship that exists between the media and its target audience, the representation of women, and the strategies adopted in the reporting of tragic events.

The module will have a strong emphasis on the linguistic analysis of real media texts.

Learning outcomes
Students will have developed:
- the ability to use written and oral communication effectively;
- the capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse;
- the ability to manage quantities of complex information in a structured and systematic way;
- the capacity for independent thought and judgement;
- critical reasoning;
- research skills, including the retrieval of information, the organisation of material and the evaluation of its importance;
- IT skills;
- efficient time management and organisation skills;
- the ability to learn independently.

Skills outcomes
- Skills for effective communication, oral and written.
- Capacity to analyse and critically examine diverse forms of discourse.
- Ability to acquire quantities of complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way.
- Capacity for independent thought and judgement.
- Critical reasoning.
- Research skills, including information retrieval skills, the organisation of material, and the evaluation of its importance.
- IT skills.
- Time management and organisational skills.
- Independent learning.

Syllabus

We live in the media age. Every day we are bombarded by messages from our newspapers, magazines, radios and TV sets. Today’s media fulfils many diverse functions: it informs and educates us, often it seeks to persuade us, it entertains us, and at the end of a hard day it may even relax us. But how often do we actually stop to question the effects or methods of this constant media stream?

This module will enable you to analyse and evaluate the language of the media in its many guises. It will consider the ways in which language is used by key media outlets such as the press, advertising, TV and radio broadcasts, and also in specific types of media text such as the news report, the interview or talk show; the feature article, the news story or the editorial.

Also under examination will be the increasingly interactive new technologies media such as the internet. We will look at a range of salient issues such as the role of the media as an authority in society and the consensual relationship that exists between the media and its target audience.

The module will have a strong emphasis on the linguistic analysis of real media texts.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lectures	3	1.00	3.00
presentation	1	3.00	3.00
Seminar	9	1.00	9.00
Private study hours			185.00
Total Contact hours			15.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Reading, seminar preparation, assignment preparation.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

- Seminar contribution
- Feedback on presentation at student conference

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	2500 words (word count includes quotations and references, but not data).	70.00
Presentation	PowerPoint presentation of work in progress for their 2500 word assignment (at student conference)	30.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Students will be required to give an assessed powerpoint presentation of work in progress for their 2500 word assignment at the student conference.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 22/05/2023

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